Seattle set to hit record 76-day dry stretch
SEATTLE - The city is on the verge of a record dry stretch as parched Seattleites await the arrival of a rainy season that is still days away.
The National Weather Service says a high pressure system over the Northwest is blocking Pacific frontal systems that typically keep Western Washington wet from the fall through the spring.
Since July 23, Sea-Tac Airport has recorded only .03 of rain. With no rain in the forecast, the city will set a record of 76 days for the driest stretch since they started keeping records in 1891. The previous record was a 75-day stretch of .03 or less, set in 1922.
The Puget Sound summer also has featured several days of warm temperatures, including five days that hit 90 degrees or higher, further drying out the region.
Forecasters say the next best chance of rain may be Thursday night or next Friday. Until then, the forecast calls for mostly clear skies and high temperatures in the 60s.
The National Weather Service says a high pressure system over the Northwest is blocking Pacific frontal systems that typically keep Western Washington wet from the fall through the spring.
Since July 23, Sea-Tac Airport has recorded only .03 of rain. With no rain in the forecast, the city will set a record of 76 days for the driest stretch since they started keeping records in 1891. The previous record was a 75-day stretch of .03 or less, set in 1922.
The Puget Sound summer also has featured several days of warm temperatures, including five days that hit 90 degrees or higher, further drying out the region.
Forecasters say the next best chance of rain may be Thursday night or next Friday. Until then, the forecast calls for mostly clear skies and high temperatures in the 60s.
In a perfect world, we would have sunshine during the day and rain at night. However, I am not complaining! Love this weather and going to embrace it as long as we have it. It won't be too long when we will have nothing but rain and hearing people complain about that. I am just going to enjoy what we have and continue to do my outdoor activities.
All those enjoying the this dry period need to wake up and realize whats happening----its not good, in any way shape, or form. Weather patterns around the world are changing rapidly--and not for the better. Humans(all 8 billion of them) have trashed the earth, just about beyond repair. That nobody sees that doesn't really surprise me.
 @SandyBeach 1). It is not beyond repair. The Earth will repair itself, it has done it many times, though the human race may not survive that. 2). A hot streak through the "dry" season is not going to harm us any. 3). Shut up and sit down. Let the rest of us enjoy our sunny bliss.
If you all love this warm, dry weather so much, why do you live here? I want my clouds and rain back.
 @Lydia Smith So, the though of people smiling and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather puts a scowl on your face? My sympathies.
You know there are rainier places than here. You could move...
 @Lydia Smith Why do I live here?  Because I was born here.  That doesn't mean I don't enjoy sunny weather on the rare occasion that we get it around here.. :)
 I wish rain . It is fresh air , clean car and streets , no shouting idiots outside  ,  less chance of skin cancer .
I'm not missing any ounce of sunshine.
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Bike ride, and wine sampler at Reds, Kent Station:http://pics.lockerz.com/s/250575087
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well Im definitely loving this extension of summer. So beautiful...Â
Your photo is from 2011, KOMO. The radar dome at Harbor Island gives it away.
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Now that really would be a record dry stretch.
 @maxamillion or its from before it moved, which was around, oh, July 23rd?
 @maxamillion Haha you are right about that radar dome. I had forgotten about it, but now I do remember seeing it from the ferry.
Its Obama's fault... oh I mean its Romney's fault.   It is the fault of gun-toting, pot smoking, gay marrying, bible toting muslims pretending to be amish.
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Yeah! That's it!
I'm so hot that I wish I had a hot tub with a view
Did everyone forget already how miserable spring and early summer were? Mother Nature owes us this "spell" of dry/summer weather.
 @Deanotoyou Mother Nature owes us???????? Thats the dumbest thing I've heard yet. Maybe thats what the guy who dumped all the human waste up at Mt Rainier was thinking, too...huh????  OBTW---It'll be Mother Nature that gets the last laugh.Â
 @Deanotoyou Springs and early summers are usually pretty dismal around here...nothing new.
There are not to many places that can beat Seattle on a beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon. But part of that beauty is the greenery and that is the part that is missing. I only like the rain because of the green.
I love this dry weather as much as the next person, but it's really evident by now that we need some rain, and our situation in Mason County (close enough to our Lake Limerick community) proves it.
@Zoso I love Lake Limerick! My in-laws have property there and we always vacation with them in the summer. I hope there aren't any fires getting too close!
 @kockatoo Yeah, it's going the other way so it should be safe. I figured the lake would be alright but I still had to show some concern after our previous fires to the east. So I don't think we'll be losing our vacation spots. :)
I miss the rain :)
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 @Rod So do I.
 @Rod Where is the dislike button!Â
@caphillkid @Rod I flagged it as offensive.
I get the 'it's not global warming, it's just the climate averaging itself out, some years are warmer, some are wetter".
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But what I haven't seen explained to me yet is, why is it that each recent year we break more and more weather records? Â Is anyone keeping track of the amount/number of weather records we are breaking and comparing to previous months/years? Â
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I have been following the weather for a long time now and see a pretty obvious trend, we are breaking more and more weather records each year, more than the previous year. Â It seems like something in the climate is definitely changing and I still belief that there is something to the 'global warming' idea.
@Landshark well I don't know how long you been tracking it. but not very long these are cycles in fact a oddity that happens when we have this happen though I have not been around in 1922 or 1889 is that every time we have weather like this this late in the year a major storm hits. the 1880 storm king cat 4 or cat 5 hit in Jan the sept and October were tinder box dry for weeks and a month. the Columbus Day storm same weather pattern nice in late sept Just Look at the pattern. I am not saying it will happen but it sure makes one's eye brows rise up.
 @wynooheeman  @Landshark I had a short intern at NOAA in Seattle when I was in my teens and part of my job there was to transfer data from hard copies to digital copies, data that was mostly focused on earthquakes and tornadoes that occurred in this state.  I wish I still had access to that historical data at such an easy convenience.
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I should start keeping my own weather records to track trends. Â I'm pretty good at predicting local weather around here. :) Â My Wife always asks me about the weather before looking it up.
Komo, are you hiring new editors? You sure need to...
 @NorthwestEconomist Of course, it is important not to end a sentence with a preposition.
 @Sid Vishess  @NorthwestEconomist Sid - oh you mean:  a preposition is something you should never end a sentence with
:-)
 @Sid Vishess  @NorthwestEconomist "Of course, it is important not to end a sentence with a preposition." This is not a hard and fast grammar rule, more of a guideline.
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I don't see any grammatical errors in the article, perhaps I've mysteriously been transported to an alternate universe where KOMO's articles appear grammatically correct.
 @Jill  @Sid Vishess  @NorthwestEconomist It's perfectly fine to end a sentence with a preposition. The notion that you can't is a complete myth. It comes from grammarians who tried to impose Latin rules on English.
 @Jill  @Sid Vishess  @NorthwestEconomist They updated it. The original headline was "Seattle to set to hit..."
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I...am...NOT...complaining.
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I love this weather. Best September possibly in Seattle's history. Even got a few foggy mornings to make it feel like fall. This October has been more like Boston, Hartford, or New York than Seattle. Warm afternoons, cold crisp nights. If we don't get a big windstorm in October the foliage around here is going to be beautiful.
 @Howard Beale Just to let you know Octobers in those cities average more rain than the average October in Seattle.
@Howard Beale I don't normally agree with you. but on this I agree!
@Howard Beale But one of my favorite things about fall/October is a big windstorm when all the leaves are blowing around! Maybe late October...cause the beautiful foliage is nice to look at! :)
Gotta love this great weather, once in a lifetime for the great northwest...
Headline grammar failure.Â
 @caphillkid You to said that to right.
i wanted to be the first to post a totally irrelevant rambling incoherent bad grammar and speling no puctuation and to lazy too use shift key rant blame it on obama its romneys fault or the unions
dont get all worked up im just pokng fun at th trolls its' just joking
 @Nitrofan Too late...you were the second.
Any chances of snow? - I don't mind the sunny weather, but I love the snow more.
 @PersianTrainer Record early snow in Minnesota!
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 I predicted long term climate disruptions due to the Indonesian Boxing Day Earthquake of 2004, shifting the axis of the Earth a fraction of a fraction. My hypotheses was poo-poo'ed and mocked.
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But who is laughing NOW!
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Bwahaha.
 @Sid Vishess  @PersianTrainer Sure...